Search found 128 matches

by aflatun
Sun Jul 29, 2018 3:57 pm
Forum: Book Reviews
Topic: Nagarjuna in China
Replies: 4
Views: 6568

Re: Nagarjuna in China

This one has been on my to do list for a very long time, and I likely won't get to it soon, but I look forward to your thoughts!
by aflatun
Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:30 pm
Forum: Dzogchen
Topic: Immutable Nature of the Primordial State
Replies: 68
Views: 12709

Re: Immutable Nature of the Primordial State

"Primordial state" is how ChNN translates the term "gzhi." "Gzhi" simply refer to something we have not realized. If there is some real primordial state, then how does it exist, in whom does it exist, and in what way does it exist, without falling into the four extreme...
by aflatun
Sat Mar 24, 2018 7:28 pm
Forum: Rinzai
Topic: Meido Moore Interview
Replies: 5
Views: 7054

Re: Meido Moore Interview

Very nice, thank you for sharing this :heart:
by aflatun
Sun Feb 18, 2018 6:11 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: The Unbearable Lightness of Anatman
Replies: 212
Views: 32073

Re: The Unbearable Lightness of Anatman

Malcolm wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 5:23 am
aflatun wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:05 am
But the cessation of, and the pursuit of the cessation of-affliction --> action --> suffering --> affliction- is meaningful, isn't it? Perhaps we're using the word "meaning" in different ways though.
The Dharma is meaningful. Life isn't.
Agreed :)
by aflatun
Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:20 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: The Unbearable Lightness of Anatman
Replies: 212
Views: 32073

Re: The Unbearable Lightness of Anatman

This may be relevant here: I always recall a radio interview I translated for Kalu Rinpoche, my teacher, in Canada, in which the interviewer started off with the question: “Rinpoche, what is the meaning of life?” And I tried to translate this, and I quickly wound up tied up in knots because I could...
by aflatun
Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:05 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: The Unbearable Lightness of Anatman
Replies: 212
Views: 32073

Re: The Unbearable Lightness of Anatman

What about falling into the trap of extreme views? The argument that life has no meaning seems to fall into one of the two extreme views: nihilism. that life's meaning is relative and subjective is not to say it has no meaning. It has many meanings, perhaps. Life has no meaning because life by defi...
by aflatun
Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:48 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Pure Land teachings from a Zen perspective
Replies: 142
Views: 39090

Re: Pure Land teachings from a Zen perspective

The old woman most certainly had formal training. That is, she received guidance from Hakuin and put it into practice. "Formal training" simply means that one enters into relationship with a teacher, and does what one is directed to do...it is nothing more or less than this. If you are tr...
by aflatun
Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:17 pm
Forum: Nyingma
Topic: The Aro Authenticity Debate.
Replies: 484
Views: 90718

Re: The Aro Authenticity Debate.

Malcolm wrote: Sat Jan 20, 2018 5:04 pm

Actually, it should be required reading for all Buddhists in every school.
:good:
by aflatun
Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:33 am
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: Is the new "Spread Mind" philosophy actually Buddhism?
Replies: 4
Views: 2745

Re: Is the new "Spread Mind" philosophy actually Buddhism?

I dunno but I love it. PS: His trip reminds me of Douglas Harding. For however carefully I attend, I fail to find here even so much as a blank screen on which they are reflected, or a transparent lens or aperture through which they are viewed – still less a soul or a mind to which they are presente...
by aflatun
Sun Jan 14, 2018 3:23 am
Forum: Dzogchen
Topic: ChNN on presence
Replies: 72
Views: 15602

Re: ChNN on presence

In addition, the commentary on the Lanka states unequivocally that joy and bliss refer respectively to physical and mental bliss, as does the commentary on the Dasabhumika Sūtra, as does the commentary on the Abhidharmasammucaya, and as does Abhayakaragupta's Marmakaumudī. There are other Mahāyāna ...
by aflatun
Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:53 pm
Forum: Dzogchen
Topic: ChNN on presence
Replies: 72
Views: 15602

Re: ChNN on presence

So I think what they're asking is, is this "hard jhana" with a concomitant black out at the five senses and lose of body awareness the kind of first dhyana that Rongzom is advocating? I think the Dārṣṭāntika (Sautrantika) opinion is the best. See the Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam, vol. 4 pp. 1229...
by aflatun
Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:32 pm
Forum: Dzogchen
Topic: ChNN on presence
Replies: 72
Views: 15602

Re: ChNN on presence

... Perhaps part of what Marc and MiphamFan were getting at is the nature of the first dhyana as described by "hard jhana" Theravadins and Alan Wallace, (and the visuddhimagga): The five "external" senses cease, one cannot hear sounds, etc and there is no experience of the body ...
by aflatun
Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:36 pm
Forum: Dzogchen
Topic: Shamatha/shine
Replies: 11
Views: 2927

Re: Shamatha/shine

What is the difference between watching ones breath and using external object (like A for example) as ChNN teaches it? Is the method of ChNN faster to bring some realization of shine? Or is there no difference and it depends on persons capacity etc what is more suitable for them? What Vasana said. ...
by aflatun
Sun Jan 07, 2018 2:29 am
Forum: Dzogchen
Topic: Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche Footage
Replies: 1
Views: 1062

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche Footage

Apologies if this has been posted before, but I think I'm in love...




:bow: :bow: :bow:
by aflatun
Sat Jan 06, 2018 7:38 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: The Unbearable Lightness of Anatman
Replies: 212
Views: 32073

Re: The Unbearable Lightness of Anatman

It ends with the premise. In fact its over before the premise. Provisional meaning is possible. But it's, you know, provisional. Have you been buzzing around here all this time and missed the whole Madhyamika thing? Just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly: Are you saying the Madhyamaka re...
by aflatun
Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:00 pm
Forum: Ethical Conduct
Topic: "Objectivity" and objective moral values
Replies: 51
Views: 13345

Re: "Objectivity" and objective moral values

:good: This is a topic that interests me in terms of intellectual history. One issue underlying your post, is that the very principle of 'objectivity' as a criterion for truth is of pretty recent vintage. I don't think it was until around 17th century Europe that the principle of objectivity was eve...
by aflatun
Tue Dec 12, 2017 4:00 am
Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
Topic: You Know You've Been on Dharma Wheel Too Long When...
Replies: 22
Views: 6385

Re: You Know You've Been on Dharma Wheel Too Long When...

DNS wrote: Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:57 am you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and take your phone with you to check if anyone responded to your posts . . . :toilet:
:rolling:

And if they didn’t: :techproblem:
by aflatun
Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:37 am
Forum: Media
Topic: Is there Buddhism without rebirth?
Replies: 74
Views: 12858

Re: Is there Buddhism without rebirth?

Sketch of a Proof of Rebirth*** Now that is one hell of an argument for rebirth. It's an example of how much you can get done if you use phenomenology to bracket everything which falls outside experience. Agreed! I think I mispoke earlier with respect to the similarities between the two arguments. ...
by aflatun
Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:07 pm
Forum: Media
Topic: Is there Buddhism without rebirth?
Replies: 74
Views: 12858

Re: Is there Buddhism without rebirth?

In other words, acceptance of rebirth by that practitioner is not the result of a reasoning process. The old Dharmakīrti heuristic All conditioned things have causes. Mind, being conditioned, has a cause. If mind has a material cause it must come from the body. If mind does not have a material caus...
by aflatun
Sat Dec 09, 2017 7:40 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: The Need for Enlightenment
Replies: 9
Views: 1931

Re: The Need for Enlightenment

CedarTree wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2017 6:36 pm
You have some of the best quotes in your signature. Period. :anjali:
Thanks CedarTree, and you have the best threads. I seriously appreciate the emphasis on personal experience and practice, sorry I don't participate as much as I should!

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